Fat Hack (Doctors Office Edition)

* Set boundaries your practitioner at the beginning of the appointment -- what words do you want them to use, do you want to know your weight, tell them what size blood pressure cuff to use, what seating is most comfortable for you, where to draw your blood from.

* Write down your symptoms and how they are impacting your life/how your life has changed since experiencing the symptoms. Don't leave until all of your concerns have been addressed and have a plan for next steps, tests that have been ordered, and/or a course of treatment.

* Play the respectability politics game -- phrase things as questions if you're curious about certain diagnoses, bring it back to your symptoms, remember that doctors exist as gatekeepers to care, your goal is to get the care you deserve. They don't know your body better than you do.

* Lie (only if necessary) -- if they ask if you've thought about weight loss or they suggest that your problems are weight related, you can lie! Play their game. Tell them that you're working with a dietician or are doing a program with a trainer, this can work to get them on your side. As fatties who aren't interested in IWL, we can easily be written off as combative or that we are denying the "care" being given (when that care is being referred to bariatric surgery).

* If they're set on weight being the causal issue, focus on weight change, why would this problem be arising now? Does this issue happen to thin folks? Weight loss takes time, how can we manage symptoms in the mean time. What if weight loss isn't a possibility?

* Find another doctor.

* If coming in with a self diagnosis, understand how diagnosis might differ for fat folks -- How does the disorder present in fat folks vs thin folks? The practitioner is likely only versed in diagnosing thin bodies.

* Bring a thin friend to vouch for you!

* If you have a trusted PCP, have them call the specialist ahead of time to explain your situation -- they will likely be heard more than you will be if you are in a non-normative body.

* Talk-up your baseline health, bring up the "healthy" behaviors you partake in, dress up, use big words.

* HAVE CONFIDENCE -- I need to repeat, doctors know a lot. They have a lot of training, they read a lot of books, they pay a lot of money to develop skills that we don't have, AND they are undertrained on fat bodies across the board AND they are not in your body. They are likely not in a fat body and have never been in a fat body.